Facebook vs Google

At the time of writing this article, Facebook and Google are two of the most influential giants on the web. The statistics involving the two is so scarily overwhelming, that if you shutdown both of these internet services, it will be like shutting down the internet itself.

Ok, ok. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it can’t be avoided, because Facebook and Google are just that big. However, these two are not remotely the same. In fact, besides from being found on the internet, they are totally different in terms of their service and functional purpose.

Let us start with Google. Google, as a company, specializes in internet search functions. When one refers to Google, they usually imply – search engine. However, Google has ventured into many products and services, such as, email, video sharing, office productivity, online mapping, and web browsers, among other things. Recently, Google has ventured into mobile phones, particularly smart phone operating systems.

Google was founded in 1998, already more than a decade ago, and as of September 2009, it houses 19,665 full time employees. Google has thousands of servers, scattered all around the world, to process millions of search queries each day. Basically, Google is an internet applications company.

Facebook, on the other hand, is primarily a social networking website. It is made for exactly this purpose, and it is similar to other highly popular sites, such as MySpace, Bebo, and Friendster. With Facebook, registered users can connect with friends and community groups. Users can post statuses, edit profiles, and notify friends. Sharing media is also allowed in Facebook.

Facebook’s rise to popularity and success was a fast one, and within just a few years since its launching, it overtook MySpace, which was the leading social networking site at that time. Facebook was launched in February 2004, and currently has more than 350 million users worldwide.

Facebook Inc. has fewer employees in comparison to Google, with just roughly more than a thousand. When it comes to revenues, Google will still trump Facebook. Facebook Inc. had an estimated 300 million dollars in 2008, but it was dwarfed by Google’s whopping 21.796 billion dollars in the same year. However, Google did start much earlier than Facebook.

Google’s function is more diverse, as it offers services which are not even hinted at in Facebook. Nevertheless, Facebook is expanding to new horizons, and may engage in new ventures. As of now, Facebook is gradually expanding to new possibilities.

Summary:

1. Google is mainly an internet applications company, that specializes in internet search functions, while Facebook is a company that primarily provides a social networking website as its core product/service.

2. Google started earlier, about six years before Facebook.

3. In their respective sites, Google is a search engine, while Facebook is social networking.

4. Google’s number of employees dwarfs that of Facebook.

5. Google has more diverse functions than Facebook.

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